Family Life Fun Night

By Travis Hendershott, Partnership Coordinator

Family Life Services is a transitional housing for single mothers and their kiddos. This is our third summer with FLS, one of our cherished partners here in Colorado Springs since the very start of it all. A few months back Next Step and FLS sat down together to talk through and plan what a ‘summer fun night event’ could look like in partnership together. At the heart of the event we knew we wanted to celebrate the mothers and families of this incredible community while also raising awareness to the local neighborhoods and businesses of who FLS is in their local and community impact. It’s amazing to look back and see how plans have come to a reality and the phenomenal time we had with everyone involved!

During our second week of trips here in Colorado Springs we had the opportunity to celebrate these families of Family Life Services. FLS and Next Step staff arrived 3 hours before the event. We readied the blow up bounce house which was donated by a local church we’ve partnered with for extra housing during our large weeks. Kona Shaved Ice truck and West Side Hot Dogs arrived and parked within the center of the property. We set up chairs for a cake walk game that was like musical chairs and made about 200 cupcakes to give away for a prize. We also had music, yard games, 20 person twister, cake walk game, face painting, hamburgers, and also a local radio station called WAY FM attend which had been advertising the event on their radio station for the past week leading up to the event. FLS even made a dunk tank schedule for everyone to participate in! Everyone involved did a great job preparing before the Friday evening time arrived!

We started the night with everyone gathering together and reminding everyone the reason we were celebrating Family Life Services and their impact on the community. The meal was prayed for and the fun began! It was truly an amazing time to come together and celebrate the joy of this organization.

This truly would not have been possible without the churches, staff, and everyone involved. Through this experience, I personally learned that so often we think we simply need to raise money to make something happen. While the face painting was done by a couple experienced face painters by Next Step staff. The games were all donated by FLS and local churches. The bounce house was donated by a local church that happened to own it, and the cupcakes were baked by staff attending the event. I think this is a great reminder to be creative and think about the skills and everyone involved and simply ask the community what can be done, rather than simply paying for things to happen. This also gives everyone a sense of ownership and partaking in the event. We really never know what’s available to us sometimes until we ask!

Thank you to everyone involved with this event and the prayer that was showered over it leading up to the event. Amongst the business and go go we often forget to stop and celebrate. I know that this will be in the memories and cherished within the families of FLS and everyone involved for years to come. Let’s do it again!